More on Hoke

Brady Hoke knows plenty about stopping offenses. Making them go? Not so much.

Hoke, who was officially introduced as the new head football coach at San Diego State yesterday, has seldom stepped across the line when it comes to offense, having served as a defensive assistant for the duration of his college coaching career before becoming head coach at Ball State in 2003.

While the Cardinals currently rank 11th nationally in total offense as they prepare for their Jan. 6 meeting with Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl, Hoke has had little to do with that success, having largely left the offensive responsibilities in the hands of coordinator Stan Parrish.

Asked yesterday if Parrish would be accompanying him to SDSU, Hoke said he wasn't prepared to discuss staffing issues. However, the Muncie (Ind.) Star Press reported yesterday that Parrish confirmed having received an offer from Hoke to serve as the Aztecs' offensive coordinator.

Meanwhile, ESPN reported that Parrish will succeed Hoke as Ball State's head coach, a report denied by Parrish and Tom Collins, the school's athletic director.

Hoke and Parrish coached together for six years at Michigan before the former was hired at Ball State.

“He does a tremendous job with an offense,” Hoke said of Parrish, who is expected to coach the Cardinals in the GMAC Bowl. “There's no question that I feel very strongly about Stan Parrish.”

Hoke said he would like to have his staff completed in the next three or four days and that conversations regarding those positions have commenced.

While Hoke would appear to have enough on his plate in trying to remedy the ills of an SDSU defense that ranked 112th this season, the Aztecs offense didn't exactly cover itself in glory, either, ranking 99th among the nation's 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

In the nine-team Mountain West Conference, SDSU ranked 9th in rushing offense, eighth in total offense and eighth in scoring offense. The Aztecs scored 14 or fewer points eight times.

Although little is expected to change in terms of Hoke's offensive philosophy versus that of former coach Chuck Long, SDSU's new coach is a strong proponent of running the ball. The Aztecs struggled mightily in that department this year, with junior Atiyyah Henderson leading the team with an average of 44.6 yards a game. Meanwhile, quarterback Ryan Lindley ranked third in the MWC in total offense with an average of 235.55 yards. He averaged 241.2 yards passing.

“We want to be a team that gets down the field vertically, but we're also going to be a team that runs the football,” Hoke said. “I think when you run the football that it teaches toughness.

“The one thing that I've always thought is that your offense has to be an offense that at the end of the game can run the ball, take time off the clock and salt the game away.”

Despite suffering an injury to his throwing shoulder in Week 5 against TCU, Lindley turned in the best performance by a freshman quarterback in SDSU history. He established school records for attempts (427), completions (242), passing yards (2,653) and touchdowns (16). He had three 300-yard games and one 400-yard game.

“I think a lot is going to depend on who (Hoke) brings in as offensive coordinator,” Lindley said. “Right now, you're usually in the film room watching tape of what you did last year and looking at the things you can correct. As soon as we do get an offensive coordinator, I'm sure guys are going to be in there with a playbook and be ready to go. It's going to be a big offseason for us in terms of preparation, but we're ready to get to work.”